1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an auto-tracking imaging apparatus, and particularly relates to an auto-tracking imaging apparatus capable of simultaneously capturing a wide-angle image and a telephoto image.
2. Description of the Related Art
JP1999-69342A (JP-H11-69342A) and JP2006-33224A describe a conventional auto-tracking imaging apparatus capable of simultaneously capturing a wide-angle image and a telephoto image.
Both the systems described in JP1999-69342A (JP-H11-69342A) and JP2006-33224A comprise: a wide-angle camera that captures a wide-angle image; and a telephoto camera that is mounted on an electric pan head (panning/tilting device) and captures a telephoto image. In a basic configuration of the system, the wide-angle camera detects a tracking target object from the captured wide-angle image, and the telephoto camera automatically tracks the object by controlling rotation of the electric pan head on the basis of information about a position of the detected object in the wide-angle image, thereby performing telephoto imaging.
Further, a tracking system in which a camera is mounted on a panning/tilting mount, and which controls the panning/tilting mount such that it captures an object (OBT) subjected to tracking at the center of the field of view of the camera has been proposed. The camera comprises an optical system in which an axis of a narrow-angle lens portion of a central circular part coincides with an axis of a wide-angle lens portion of an annular part surrounding the central circular part, and an image sensor having a central zone, in which a narrow-angle image is formed by the narrow-angle lens portion, and a circumferential zone in which a wide-angle image is formed by the wide-angle lens portion (JP2003-510666A).
Thereby, even if the OBT drops out from the narrow-angle image, the OBT can be captured by using the wide-angle image. Thus, tracking dropout does not occur.
Further, a contact lens, through which the wide-angle and telephoto images can be observed, was proposed by Joseph Ford at the University of California at San Diego (UCSD) (“Photonic Systems Integration Laboratory”, the Internet <URL: http://psilab.ucsd.edu/research/Telescopic Contact Lens/main.html>).
By using the configuration of the contact lens in a camera, it is possible to obtain wide-angle and telephoto images.